The Guardian: The Blind Banister – Original, Arresting and Eclectic

Andrew Clements from The Guardian reviewed Timo Andres’ “The Blind Banister.” More info »

★★★★☆ These three works showcase the US composer’s distinctive and accomplished musical language.
Like a number of US composers of the thirtysomething generation, Timo Andres takes the minimalism of John Adams and Philip Glass as the starting point for his eclectic musical language. But as shown by the solo piano Colorful History, which Andres himself plays as the centrepiece to this collection, his music explores a much broader musical landscape.
The solo piece, a chaconne of increasing complexity, is framed by two concertos: The Blind Banister for piano from 2017 (composed for Jonathan Biss, but with Andres as the soloist here) and Upstate Obscura for cello. The piano concerto (Andres’s third for the instrument) was commissioned as part of a series inspired by Beethoven’s five examples: for Andres, the pairing was with the second piano concerto, but there’s no hint of Beethovenian pastiche or allusion in his music. Instead the work begins almost like one of Glass’s piano studies, though when the orchestra enters it quickly veers off into territory that is very much Andres’s own.
In its very different way, Upstate Obscura, for chamber orchestra and cello, is just as original and arresting. Andres never shies away from allowing the solo cello to do what it inherently does so well: launch long-limbed expressive melody, while the orchestra supplies it with a glinting, pulsing backdrop. And the soloist, Inbal Segev, clearly relishes the lyrical opportunities Andres gives him. It’s a highly accomplished disc all round.